Texas, Arkansas and Nebraska support the FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules

19 Oct 2018

In a brief filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Texas, Arkansas and Nebraska urged judges to reject a lawsuit filed against the FCC. This lawsuit were filed by 22 US states with a Democratic attorney general and it is related to repealing the 2015 net neutrality order. According to the brief, the old net neutrality rules "offered threats to investment and creative problem solving within the ISP community". On the other hand, the states suing the FCC argue that the decision to eliminate net neutrality rules was arbitrary and that the FCC cannot preempt state laws regulating net neutrality. It is scheduled oral arguments in the case for 1st February, 2019.

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The Internet’s success lies in its design, which is based on the principle of net neutrality. From the outset, the flow of all the content on the Internet was treated without discrimination. New entrepreneurs did not need permission or market power to innovate on the Internet. With the development of new digital services, especially the ones consuming high bandwidth such as high-quality video streaming, some Internet operators (telecom companies and ISPs) started prioritising certain traffic – such as their own services or the services of their business partners – based on business needs and plans, justifying such an approach with a need to raise funds to further invest in the network. Net neutrality proponents strongly fight back such plans arguing this could limit open access to information and online freedoms, and stifle online innovation.

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